Cuban president Raul Castro sacked Light Industry minister Jose Hermandez, the latest of an on-going cabinet reshuffle with the purpose of implanting a policy of import-substitution to address the growing economic crisis.

With its pert face and furry coat, the slender mink looks like a charming pet. But beneath the sweet façade lies an opportunistic predator that has become a menace to biodiversity in the southern parts of Chile.

The association agreement between the European Union and Mercosur has to go “beyond tariffs and subsidies”, said Brazilian president addressing businessmen from Brazil and a visiting Italian delegation headed by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Uruguay will reply next week Argentina’s proposal for the joint monitoring of the River Uruguay, said Uruguayan Foreign Affairs minister Luis Almagro after holding a three hours meeting with his visiting counterpart Hector Timerman.

Argentina will inaugurate Wednesday a key new pipeline bringing natural gas from Tierra del Fuego Province to the neighboring province of Santa Cruz. The Strait of Magellan pipeline will initially transfer 5 million cubic meters a day of gas from Cabo Espiritu Santo in Tierra del Fuego Province to Cabo Virgenes in Santa Cruz.

Royal Dutch Shell Brazil discovered oil in the Campos Basin's pre-salt region, the company said Tuesday. In a statement, Shell Brazil said it had discovered oil in the 3-SHEL-22-ESS well at the Nautilus field, part of the Parque das Conchas development that went on-stream in July 2009.

Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, expressed his support for the idea that Brazilian President Lula da Silva should run for president once again in the Brazilian presidential elections of 2014.